PGR News from the Pacific

Posted 2:41 PM by Tevita

NARI releases early maturing sweet potatoes

From: NARI Nius

Twelve early maturing sweet potato or kaukau varieties have been released to farmers. The 12 varieties are suitable for high altitudes of Papua New Guinea and can be harvested as early as six months.

Food security is a big issue nationwide and particularly for the high altitude areas because of low
temperatures, high rainfall and frost occurrence. Sweet potato therefore takes longer to mature, usually 9-12 months. The released varieties can give something to farmers to fall back
on when there is frost in areas above 1,800 metres above sea level.

They were selected from an initial 60 varieties collected from the Highlands region and were
evaluated at various sites since 2003 by NARI agronomist Kud Sitango.

NARI releases early maturing sweet potatoes. The released varieties were finally evaluated in the Western Highlands (Tambul), Enga (Kandep and Taluma) and Simbu (Kelga) provinces and they have shown to adopt well in all conditions. The final selection was made from this assessment. They were selected based on good marketable yield, taste and farmer preference and have been released as preliminary material for farmers to evaluate and adopt those that yield well under their conditions. An assessment will be done by NARI to confirm adoption.

NARI Tambul Research Programme Leader, Leader Alai Simin, said the varieties can give yields up to about 5-9 tonnes per hectare at six months maturity in the high altitude areas. Mr Simin said this is much better than the usual 2-10 tonnes per hectare farmers get from 10-12 months.
Planting materials or vines can be obtained from NARI in Tambul or Kandep. The contact
address is NARI High Altitude Highlands Programme, PO Box 120, Mt Hagen, WHP,
phone 542 3443/2779, fax 542 2779 or email narihahp@nari.org.pg

The high altitude is the region where 15 percent of PNG’s population or about 880, 000 people
dwell.



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DIVA-GIS	Wednesday, August 15, 2007 Posted 2:41 PM by Tevita NARI releases early maturing sweet potatoes From: NARI Nius Twelve early maturing sweet potato or kaukau varieties have been released to farmers. The 12 varieties are suitable for high altitudes of Papua New Guinea and can be harvested as early as six months. Food security is a big issue nationwide and particularly for the high altitude areas because of low temperatures, high rainfall and frost occurrence. Sweet potato therefore takes longer to mature, usually 9-12 months. The released varieties can give something to farmers to fall back on when there is frost in areas above 1,800 metres above sea level. They were selected from an initial 60 varieties collected from the Highlands region and were evaluated at various sites since 2003 by NARI agronomist Kud Sitango. NARI releases early maturing sweet potatoes. The released varieties were finally evaluated in the Western Highlands (Tambul), Enga (Kandep and Taluma) and Simbu (Kelga) provinces and they have shown to adopt well in all conditions. The final selection was made from this assessment. They were selected based on good marketable yield, taste and farmer preference and have been released as preliminary material for farmers to evaluate and adopt those that yield well under their conditions. An assessment will be done by NARI to confirm adoption. NARI Tambul Research Programme Leader, Leader Alai Simin, said the varieties can give yields up to about 5-9 tonnes per hectare at six months maturity in the high altitude areas. Mr Simin said this is much better than the usual 2-10 tonnes per hectare farmers get from 10-12 months. Planting materials or vines can be obtained from NARI in Tambul or Kandep. The contact address is NARI High Altitude Highlands Programme, PO Box 120, Mt Hagen, WHP, phone 542 3443/2779, fax 542 2779 or email narihahp@nari.org.pg The high altitude is the region where 15 percent of PNG’s population or about 880, 000 people dwell. * Comments: Post a Comment	Archive October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 January 2010 RSS Feed Alternative feed Contact Tevita Something new: Agrobiodiversity Weblog: For discussions of conservation and sustainable use of the genetic resources of crops, livestock and their wild relatives. 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